A great many devices are known in the pitless adapter field. There is a continuing problem in placing such devices within a well casing easily, quickly, and without O-ring damage, by personnel who are relatively unskilled and who must yet do a job that will work perfectly and continue to do so for many years without service. The adapter should then be withdrawn from the well readily for service. Patents on such devices known to me include the following:
______________________________________ Patent No. Inventor Dated ______________________________________ 2,968,256 C. C. Williams 1/17/61 3,563,310 Wellstein 2/16/71 3,430,697 Wellstein 3/4/69 3,722,586 Baker 3/27/73 3,403,730 Williams 10/1/68 3,270,818 Pugh 9/6/66 3,183,973 Eging 5/18/65 2,949,961 Anderson 8/23/60 3,136,362 Baker 6/9/64 3,239,007 Baker 3/8/66 2,903,067 Hall 9/8/59 3,838,735 Prescott 10/1/74 3,161,424 Maass 12/15/64 2,960,166 Haydin 11/15/60 3,805,891 Reinhard 4/23/74 3,324,950 Andrew 6/13/67 3,373,819 Baker 3/19/68 3,645,333 Maass 2/29/72 3,561,796 Williams 2/9/71 3,380,533 Andrew 4/30/68 3,812,910 Wellstein 5/28/74 ______________________________________
The O-ring seal, provided it has sufficient material, can make a good seal against the relatively rough wall of the casing provided it is not damaged in insertion, and further provided that force is evenly applied in a direction normal to the plane of the seal. Since the latter direction is at right angles to the well casing, which is only a few inches in diameter for a typical household installation, and in any case is very little larger than the pitless adapter itself, this presents a problem. Likewise, secure mechanical support of the pitless adapter presents a problem. Preferably, it should not be suspended from the well casing cover because that imposes the entire weight of the pump, the drop pipe, the pitless adapter, and their supports, on the well casing cover. This makes it difficult to seal the cover in a way that is readily removable and makes it necessary to lift the entire weight of the structure within the well casing when removing the cover. The invention described here avoids such problems.